This is my book blog, where I review the many and varied books I read as part of Cannonball Read 7, where participants try to read and blog at least 52 books every year, trying to get people excited about books and reading, and collect money for cancer charities. This year, I hope to be able to complete a double Cannonball (104 books) and I'm taking part in more reading challenges than ever. Wish me luck!

Monday, 31 December 2012

End of the year review 2012

There's less than half an hour left of the year, and it seems like a good time to reflect on the reading year I've had. Thanks to Goodreads, I'm able to keep track of all my books, both reads and re-reads, and my To Be Read list keeps steadily growing. I cleared my schedule for two 24-hour Readathons, one in April and one in October. I took part in my third Cannonball Read, and this year succeeded in my goal of reading and reviewing 52 books first of all the participants. Not only that, but I was first to complete a Double Cannonball of 104 books with one month to spare.

Obviously, I will be participating in next year's Cannonball Read as well. For those of my blog readers who feel inspired to join in, registration is open now. We read and review for a good cause, in the memory of a lovely woman, and to raise money for cancer charities. I already have enough unread books on my Reader to complete at least a double Cannonball, and that's not counting the many books coming out in 2013. Obviously my goal is to once again be the first to finish my 52 reviews. May the best reader win! I will not commit to a Double Cannonball yet, but we'll see.

Inspired by the great ladies over at The Book Smugglers, who are currently doing their Smugglivus, I'm going to post my best of 2012 list, and also links to some of the books I'm most looking forward to in 2013. I'm linking to Goodreads, because that way you can read not only my review, but those of countless others for each book, thus giving you a better impression about what the internet at large think and feel about them.

I'm not kidding when I say Courtney Milan is the best romance writer currently on the market. I adore her.

Over on Pajiba, a whole bunch of Cannonballers have listed their best and worst reads of 2012, so I had to look through my review and see which books I disliked the most. I'm posting them here, as well, to warn any readers of this blog away from them:

1. Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris (thankfully the final book is out in 2013, and I'll be free)
2. Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson (how this has an average rating of 4.43 is beyond me)
3. I Only Have Eyes for You by Bella Andre (so very boring) AND
3. At Your Pleasure by Meredith Duran (who wrote one of my top 10 books of 2011. So upsetting)

E-books: 72.8 %
Old fashioned dead tree books: 27.2 %
I think it's safe to say that e-books are winning, at this rate. It's just so incredibly convenient to be able to carry hundreds of books on one little device.

So that's my reading year. Next year, I'll be reading a lot more Norwegian, because of the course I'm taking, and my goal is to read at least two books a month from my ever increasing To Be Read pile. I keep buying books that sound awesome and don't get round to reading them because something even newer and shinier distracts me. So I will try to challenge myself a bit more in 2013.